Unfortunately I totalled my gladiator, can't believe airbags didn't go off

[Rocksalt]

Deer are like vermin and quickly overrun resources in states where they have no apex predators.. hence many more road collisions

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[Gizmo]

Totaled a 99 and an 03 Ram . One front impact one side impact never air bag deployment ,frame bent on both, I was lucky they didn't

 

[ShadowsPapa]

So do you, or anyone else, happen to know how things work for removing accessories? I'm sure it's situational dependent.... But many of us have a lot of money tied up in these things that will never be covered under insurance. Tents, lift, bumpers, etc... Things that can be ejected if not secured. I would like to think that there would be sufficient time allowed for these items to be removed especially if insurance won't even consider them in an appraisal. Then again I wouldn't put it past them to not allow that so they can get more money from the scrap yard.

There's a lot of "ifs" and "it depends" here.
As long as it's not towed to a restricted yard and they haven't looked at it - you can take off "accessories" - however, you are not normally allowed to strip it of what it came with - bumpers and that sort of thing need to be on there or they are going to deduct.
I worked where we "impounded" vehicles and where they were often towed to after an accident.
Timing is everything as well.
But start taking off parts that normally belong on a vehicle and you run into trouble. They'll ding you hard because it cuts salvage value a lot. Bumpers, fenders and parts easy or common to strip will really drop what they give you for it.
So I'd be careful to balance it all out.
This is another reason I keep parts I swap off. If I trade it, I can restore it to factory like the dealers wanted me to do with the 2020, or, if I get rear-ended hard and it's totaled, I can put a factory bumper back on the front and take mine off. They then have a complete Jeep to figure salvage value on..
That's a key figure there in many things - salvage value. Missing parts can really ding that. Salvage value is use in determining if something is totaled, among other things.
Racks and toppers/caps, tonneau covers and so on most of the time they don't give a rip.
I got a lot extra for a WJ I totaled - way over what I figured the Jeep was worth even figuring the real low miles, and so on, the adjuster saw the accessories, the pristine condition and cut me a check for well over what I expected. In that case, leaving everything with it worked out great and saved me a lot of work.

You are in a contract, yeah, that's what the policy is technically, but there can be a whole lot of back and forth if you talk it out with your insurance adjuster.
And as discussed a lot in various threads here over time, what the company will cover as far as mods, accessories and so on, varies wildly. Some have a fixed number, some will allow coverage for more with a rider, and some, like what my agent has said -take pictures, keep receipts and I'll be fine. And so far, that's how it's been.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Deer are like vermin and quickly overrun resources in states where they have no apex predators.. hence many more road collisions

Worse yet - they often act in teams of 2 or more. One will distract you while the other jumps to the attack. I've seen it personally. They are clever, devious, creatures.
They travel in gangs.
They can be like a cat stalking your Jeep as if it's prey.

Iowa has luckily dropped on the list but for a while we were number 2 or 3 out of all states for vehicle/deer impacts or something like that.

When I farmed south of Clear Lake, I had a neighbor who drove a huge Mercury - a big full-sized car. One day his wife drove their car to Mason City for shopping. On the way back home she hit and killed a deer.
That same evening, they went back to town for supper and on the way back, HE was driving that same car - hit and killed a buck.
I saw the car the next day - I could not tell it had hit anything at all. Looked fine.

 

[chorky]

There's a lot of "ifs" and "it depends" here.
As long as it's not towed to a restricted yard and they haven't looked at it - you can take off "accessories" - however, you are not normally allowed to strip it of what it came with - bumpers and that sort of thing need to be on there or they are going to deduct.
I worked where we "impounded" vehicles and where they were often towed to after an accident.
Timing is everything as well.
But start taking off parts that normally belong on a vehicle and you run into trouble. They'll ding you hard because it cuts salvage value a lot. Bumpers, fenders and parts easy or common to strip will really drop what they give you for it.
So I'd be careful to balance it all out.
This is another reason I keep parts I swap off. If I trade it, I can restore it to factory like the dealers wanted me to do with the 2020, or, if I get rear-ended hard and it's totaled, I can put a factory bumper back on the front and take mine off. They then have a complete Jeep to figure salvage value on..
That's a key figure there in many things - salvage value. Missing parts can really ding that. Salvage value is use in determining if something is totaled, among other things.
Racks and toppers/caps, tonneau covers and so on most of the time they don't give a rip.
I got a lot extra for a WJ I totaled - way over what I figured the Jeep was worth even figuring the real low miles, and so on, the adjuster saw the accessories, the pristine condition and cut me a check for well over what I expected. In that case, leaving everything with it worked out great and saved me a lot of work.

You are in a contract, yeah, that's what the policy is technically, but there can be a whole lot of back and forth if you talk it out with your insurance adjuster.
And as discussed a lot in various threads here over time, what the company will cover as far as mods, accessories and so on, varies wildly. Some have a fixed number, some will allow coverage for more with a rider, and some, like what my agent has said -take pictures, keep receipts and I'll be fine. And so far, that's how it's been.

One of the things I did before deciding to do any aftermarket changes was log and keep ALL my factory components - down to nuts and bolts. For this very reason, or in the event I want to trade it in for a newer Gladiator, sorta like how you did. It would be a royal pain to have to swap everything back to stock, and like you said that probably would be a good discussion point with the adjuster. I only ask because time and time again I see people being bent over by insurance. After all, insurance is a business and businesses are there to make money, not loose it. What I do know, is my insurance, USAA, will only cover a maximum of something like 1,500 in accessories. I've spoken with 3 different people 3 different times about that. On top of that they offer no option for 'agreed upon' value insurance, or even the option to pay a higher insurance price for additional coverage. In their eyes, you get rock bottom value no exceptions. So needless to say, I have little trust in insurance. So it would be nice to know what to do in the unfortunate event anyone ever had a vehicle replacing accident.

 

[Hootbro]

So do you, or anyone else, happen to know how things work for removing accessories? I'm sure it's situational dependent.... But many of us have a lot of money tied up in these things that will never be covered under insurance. Tents, lift, bumpers, etc... Things that can be ejected if not secured. I would like to think that there would be sufficient time allowed for these items to be removed especially if insurance won't even consider them in an appraisal. Then again I wouldn't put it past them to not allow that so they can get more money from the scrap yard.

I dealt with this once when my step-daughter had her vehicle totaled. I was told by the insurance agent that unless I had a rider for the aftermarket stuff, I could take off any mods or accessories but when it came to items like aftermarket tires, wheels, radio and exhaust or similar, I had to put back a factory equivalent item to replace. Reasoning being that the vehicle is totaled as a whole vehicle and has to go to salvage auction as a whole vehicle.

 

[chorky]

is once when my step-daughter had her vehicle totaled. I was told by the insurance agent that unless I had a rider for the aftermarket stuff, I could take off any mods or accessories but when it came to items like aftermarket tires, wheels, radio and exhaust or similar, I had to put back a factory equivalent item to replace. Reasoning being that the vehicle is totaled as a whole vehicle and ha

yeah, and that makes total sense to me, and reasonable. So if one had all their factory stuff they could do a swaparoo and be golden and not loose thousands of dollars of things. In theory

 

[Hootbro]

yeah, and that makes total sense to me, and reasonable. So if one had all their factory stuff they could do a swaparoo and be golden and not loose thousands of dollars of things. In theory

Another thing to considered is also where the wrecked vehicle will be towed to. Once they hit any body shop or impound yard, the shop owners generally are not going to allow you to doing any heavy wrenching in their place of business to swap stuff out.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

I had to put back a factory equivalent item to replace. Reasoning being that the vehicle is totaled as a whole vehicle and has to go to salvage auction as a whole vehicle.

Said it far better than I. That's it exactly. The whole vehicle is what they get in exchange for the check they cut. Salvage value. And when parts are missing, that tanks.

 

[dayusmc]

I had my Gladiator towed to my house because I didn't know the address of the body shop or the actual name of the body shop (they specialize in Jeeps). I pulled out my sub box and amps, but left all the wiring in. When I installed the amps, I wrapped all the wires with tesa tape and taped them to the factory wires, way to much to take out. The only other things I have to take out is the rear lower control arms and put factory rims and tires back on . I am not taking out the front lower control arms because it was a front hit and I don't want to mess with the affected area. So I am lucky in a sense I don't have a lot to take out like most people who have done all their mods already. I have a lift and a lot of stuff for my Gladiator, but I haven't installed it yet, thank god. Not sure how much of the stuff I bought I will actually use on my Mojave. I think I am going to just level it and put my rims and tires on. Eventually I sill put a stereo system in it, but not this box and amps. My wife didn't like the raised rear seat...

 

[dayusmc]

This was my first Jeep, I had Tacomas all my life. I learned a lot about Jeeps by having this one. I leaned you can't add uconnect if the Jeep didn't have it from the factory. That was a big lesson. Now I know what my must haves are when buying Jeeps. When I buy my wife a Jeep, I know what to buy. I also learned somewhat how to work on Jeeps. So although I am sure to loose a ton of money on this Jeep, we both didn't get hurt and I learned some things. So I really can't complain, knowledge costs time and money...

 

[GeneralMaximus]

knowledge costs time and money...

…and hopefully in your case, experience. Never swerve for deer

 

[dayusmc]

Deer is goner next time!

 

[ShadowsPapa]

I will say one thing - and a former, now banned, member and I got into a bit of a discussion on this a couple of years back - around here, depending on what you are driving, if you are going to hit that deer, you may want to DUCK as you hit it. Iowa deer are big. Wisconsin folks know what I'm talking about. We have some of the largest white tail in the country. Our deer make those in Kentucky and many other states look like they are dwarves.
It was only when I showed him the stats of some of the bucks bagged in Iowa that he decided he'd not seen a big deer before.
It started when i said that many times, depending on the car, you will break the legs of the deer and the head will go through the windshield. He thought I was telling some big tail or something. When I hit the deer with my SX4 years ago, it busted the legs of the doe and did actually kill it, but the body impact was up high on the car. The bumper hit the legs, not the body. A friend hit 3 with his SX4 - one went sailing up OVER the car, one was tossed to the side and another went under his car ripping off the whole exhaust system (luckily our cars have skid plates. So you know body mass is up high when the deer goes OVER the car.
There's been cases of the head of a buck coming through the windshield, antlers causing injury to the occupants. So there is that if you live in Iowa, especially NE Iowa where the really big ones are. (they may be bigger in WI, don't know)

 

[chorky]

I will say one thing - and a former, now banned, member and I got into a bit of a discussion on this a couple of years back - around here, depending on what you are driving, if you are going to hit that deer, you may want to DUCK as you hit it. Iowa deer are big. Wisconsin folks know what I'm talking about. We have some of the largest white tail in the country. Our deer make those in Kentucky and many other states look like they are dwarves.
It was only when I showed him the stats of some of the bucks bagged in Iowa that he decided he'd not seen a big deer before.
It started when i said that many times, depending on the car, you will break the legs of the deer and the head will go through the windshield. He thought I was telling some big tail or something. When I hit the deer with my SX4 years ago, it busted the legs of the doe and did actually kill it, but the body impact was up high on the car. The bumper hit the legs, not the body. A friend hit 3 with his SX4 - one went sailing up OVER the car, one was tossed to the side and another went under his car ripping off the whole exhaust system (luckily our cars have skid plates. So you know body mass is up high when the deer goes OVER the car.
There's been cases of the head of a buck coming through the windshield, antlers causing injury to the occupants. So there is that if you live in Iowa, especially NE Iowa where the really big ones are. (they may be bigger in WI, don't know)

Same issue here. In winter months, I see at least 1-3 deer on the side of the road daily. Daily.... Thats a lot of impact. Unfortunately our deer/elk populations here are not doing very well.

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